Well, this is it. Japandemonium has a new layout similar to a few other pages. This didn't take all that long to do, but I like it.
I prefer a clean layout. I'm hoping everyone likes the new layout as much as I do. Feel free to comment on it on this article's entry
in our message board. Anyway, since we're not here to talk about page layouts, we really should get into the column. There's lots to read, so...shall we?

Last week's Dengeki numbers are in, and by no surprise, Square Enix's Dragon Quest V cleaned up, taking the first place spot for the week.

Sega has opened its new site for the PC version of Phantasy Star Online.
We also have a number of screens, including the title screen as part of this update, as seen below.

Nintendo recently confirmed that Mario Story 2 (Paper Mario 2) will be released in Japan for the GameCube some time
this year. This is the sequel to the Mario RPG Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64. Developed by Intelligent Systems,
the game features 2D graphics in a 3D environment. One of the small features of the game announced is Mario's ability
to turn himself into a paper airplane and fly around in the sky.

Famitsu has announced that the April 30th issue of the weekly gaming magazine Famitsu Weekly will feature a new Tales
RPG from Namco. Namco has recently filed applications for trademarks for three different "Tales of" titles, as well
as trademarking "Tales of Rebirth" in the United States. It is currently not known weither the new game will feature
the new 3D graphics approach, as shown recently in the GameCube's Tales of Symphonia, or if it will showcase visually
impressive, 2D graphics similar to the PlayStation 2's Tales of Destiny 2.

Nintendo has published a new page promoting Fire Emblem:
Souen no Kiseki, the first GameCube title in the series. Although the site only shows some character artwork and a
small amount of the plot, assume more information will show up before the game's release this winter.
RPGamers will play Ike, the son of a captain on the continent of Terius. He and his friends are pulled into a
three-pronged war covering the entire continent.

Hudson has released a statement reflecting a number of recent news about its new multi-platform RPG Tengai Makyo III
Namida, their new Japanese RPG revival. Apparently, the company originally planned to develop versions of the game
for both the PlayStation 2 and GameCube, but eventually the project became so large that the decision had to be made
with developer Red Entertainment to cut the GameCube version. Hudson has also stated that it plans on creating the
best possible version for the PlayStation 2. However, it has pushed the release date for it from Fall 2004 until
sometime in the 2005 financial year, which places it beyond March 2005.

Taito has announced that Garakuta Studio has a new sequel to Magic Pengal in the development. The original game,
Rakugaki Oukoku, wasn't much of a hit anywhere, however. The new game, tentatively named Rakugaki Oukoku 2
(Scribbling Kingdom 2) is all that Taito is announcing, but a new issue of Weekly Famitsu explains that the sequel
is an action RPG, featuring realtime battles and exploration and your drawings search caves. Yoshiharu Sato, from
Studio Ghibli stays on as Art Director for this title. The official site
features very little, but more will be sure to appear as time goes on.

Bandai has announced that a new RPG based on the anime "Legends" is in development.
Legends: The Legend of the Awakening Dragon King, to be published on the Game Boy Advance, will feature a special
cable to link your GBA with Soul Doll and Tarispod, two card readers, that allow you to breed monsters from cards to
battle other players. Depending which you have, you can summon a number of powerful creatures. We also have a number
of screens and pictures of the hardware for the game for your perusal.

Well, that's it for another week. I appreciate everyone reading this. Finally, this week's update contained quite a bit of info, and I'm glad I had a chance to bring it to you. Again, if you have any suggestions on how to improve this column, or any new features you think I should add, feel free to email me and let me know. Until next week...